Florida Trip - Day 2

I have always wanted to see Castillo de San Marcos, the oldest European settlement in North America. When I was young, stories of the Spanish conquistadores (and their horses, naturally) and Ponce de Leon's Fountain of Youth fascinated me, and I wondered just how the world had looked back then.

Our second day in Florida, I got the chance to see it.

Getting ready to enter the grounds. Already the heat and humidity were rising and the air was hot and sticky.

The fort sits on a small rise of ground overlooking the Atlantic Ocean.

A conquistador stands guard as you walk over the drawbridge that crosses the moat.

Another view of the drawbridge.

Inside the castle walls, there is a large courtyard. The walls also housed the fort's rooms.

Braden poses with a small replica cannon. Cannons were everywhere!

There were many benches to sit on - welcome in the heat!

A broader view of the inner court. As I walked around it, I could not help but wonder what those walls had seen over the centuries.

Each corner of the fort had a lookout turret that you could go in. This is a view of one looking up.

Kyle, Corinne, and Addie just fit into one.

Kyle and Addie walk together on one of the paths.

The fortress is right on the Atlantic Ocean.

In the distance from the fort, we could see a lighthouse jutting up over on Anastasia Island.

We drove over to see it. There was a fee to enter the grounds and go inside, so we decided that seeing it from the ground was just fine.

After lunch at McDonalds and a quick trip to Walmart, we came home and crashed, taking naps for an hour or so. The heat really, really gets to Craig and me and we were worn out.

But, the naps perked us up so that we were fresh and ready for the annual giant marshmallow fight after dinner.

Braden shows his mama all his ammunition.

I love this pose of Kyle as he throws at his dad!

When he got on the ground to retrieve marshmallows that had gone under the car, I made my move.

By stepping on his back, I kept him out of action! 

Addie used the water balloon launcher to throw some of her marshmallows.

Team Dad takes cover from Boompa behind my car.

Standoff!

A final throw by everyone at mommy. (I could not hit the side of a barn that night!!)

Florida Trip - Corinne's Quiet Book

Corinne loved her quiet book! I was thrilled and took lots of photos for my mother and Lisa, both of whom worked on the book with me.

Opening the gift bag.

 The cover and the matching pillow I always make out of leftover cover fabric.

The title page - the lamb's ribbon collar has a bell that really rings on it.

Corinne takes a look. Over the next couple of days, she fiddled with that bell quite a bit to make it tinkle.

The jack-o-lantern opens and has more face pieces in it. They're held on with velcro. And for Dumbo, you use your finger for his trunk.

Of course, the stuffed bunny from another page works, too.

 Buttoning the flowers into the vase has been included in every book that I've made. (Corinne's is number eleven.)

 And the tipi opens up to show Chief Illiniwek inside, a nod to Kyle and his love of Illini basketball.

My mother drew the traditional tipi decorations. It's the story of a young boy who grows up to be chief.  She didn't need any reference pictures, simply freehanding them.

 We designed two new pages. The princess was a Native American girl that we felt was outdated and inaccurate, so we turned her into Rapunzel. And Granny Slash thought that Corinne needed a page reflecting her Florida heritage, so she free-handed a coconut tree. I used a pattern for a travel trunk, with a lid that opens, modified it to fit our needs, and we added monkeys to the tree.

 They can be put into the trunk and hidden or be hung all over the tree.

I could not find apples (to reflect Kyle's family heritage of owning an apple orchard) so I used cherries (which reflect another family heritage - Great Grandma Honeywell's cherry pie.) And the Rock-a-bye, Bunny is a page I have never done, although I've had the pattern since making my first book.

Corinne loved carrying that tiny bunny around and putting it back in its bed. Here she picks cherries off the tree and places them in the basket.

Most of my children and grandchildren have the whale page, only this time we made it a girl whale because we found some googly eyes with eyelashes. My mother drew the little fish frolicking around her.

And, she designed and knitted a scarf for the snowman. We made three sets of hats, trying to find the best color, deciding that black complemented the scarf best.

The whale's mouth opens and has little appliques inside - a turtle, chick, horse, robot, Illini football helmet, etc.

 What's a chick dong inside a whale??

 Let's see what else is inside.

Always, always, the last page is intended to continue keeping the child entertained, even though the quiet book has been "read." I put in a purse (for girls) or a pocket (for boys) that holds a pad of paper and then make a pencil holder for a pencil or crayon.

 Addie peeks inside the purse with her sister.

So, the big question was, would Corinne like her book?

 She sure did!

Florida Trip - Day 1

Last Tuesday, Craig and I drove to Florida to visit Kyle and his family. We went loaded with Groompa Camp items, Corinne and Addie's birthday gifts, and something for everyone in the family. Along with luggage, pillows, and air mattress, snacks, and other necessities.

On the way down, we stopped in Murfreesboro to meet Cole and Emily for a late lunch (which turned out to be our dinner) at Opah, Cole's favorite restaurant (the gyros were delicious!) and have a quick chat. Like Kyle's family, I brought a couple of things for them, too.

For their new baby, I brought something VERY special that I had found in a box of Cole's things while cleaning this summer.

His stuffed puppy, Poppy, from his childhood! A memory I have of Cole and this stuffed animal happened when he contracted the chicken pox as a toddler. He was REALLY sick, and one day was lying inert on my bed, awake, but not moving, talking, or doing anything. He was just too ill to move. But Poppy was tucked right in beside him.

I also brought a Native American tool my grandfather had given me. I have three, and decided I would pass one on to each son.

Cole got the pestle.

 And promptly threatened to smash the free baklava the restaurant's owner had given us.

Addie looked at this picture after we arrived in Florida and asked, "Why is Uncle Cole smashing your dessert, Grammy?" Craig and I told her it was just a joke, but she never really believed us!

My mom has been embroidering aprons for each of her granddaughters and granddaughters-in-love, and had sent Emily's with me.

(I love that you can see her baby bump in this picture!)

It says, "Season everything with love." 

We spent the night just south of Atlanta in McDonough, Georgia, and then hit the road the next morning. After arriving in Florida, and then waiting for Kyle to come home from work, we opened some of the gifts that had been brought.

Braden, Addie, and Corinne opened the gifts that JC and Trinity bought with their own money during Groompa Camp in June. JC was so excited to see his cousins open those gifts, that he asked on Instagram if they'd gotten them just after we arrived.

Corinne opened the quiet book that Granny Slash, Aunt Lisa, and I made her (I will do a separate blog post on that. Stay tuned!)

Playing with the Star Wars/Angry Birds games we brought. These proved to be a big hit.

After dinner, mention was made of the "potato sacks" Craig used to give our children when we put them to bed. This involved grabbing a giggling child by one arm and leg, swinging them across his shoulders like a sack of potatoes (hence the name), and carrying them to bed, much to the kids' delight. (And usually, while one was getting a potato sack, the previous child was slipping back out of bed and running downstairs, getting in line for another!)

Kyle responded that he did the same thing to his children, and asked Craig if he'd like the honor that evening.

Braden and Addie needed no encouragement; they were lined up and ready to go before Craig had even accepted the invitation!

 Braden is hoisted and carried off to bed...

 ... while Addie waits her turn.

Off she goes! She wasn't nearly as giggly and wiggly as her brother.

The adults ended up staying up late and gabbing, which would become the pattern for the entire visit.

Linked In to Reconnect

This made me feel very old when I saw it in my inbox this morning:

I'm not sure if you remember me, but I was in your 5th  grade class at Yankee Ridge 12 years ago. I'd like to  add you to my professional network. - Alexander Mouschovias Accept View Profile

A former student, now an adult, connecting through a professional network. I think it's that fact that it's not Facebook or a casual site with which he has contacted me that makes me realize how much time has passed.

Old as it makes me feel, it is always a delight to hear from former kiddos. Although I guess Alexander is no longer a kid. (And of COURSE I remember him!!)

The Circle of Life Reflected in Sewing Patterns

After two weeks of working on Corinne's quiet book, I decided I would clean out the buffet in the living room that holds all my sewing supplies and move them upstairs into my office. After all, I sew upstairs, and running up and down to get things is a bother. It makes much more sense to keep them up here.

As I pulled things out, I uncovered this cute little drawing left for me years ago (I sure hope it's not current!) by one of my cherubs who had too much time on their hands and access to a marker.

I couldn't get a good shot of it since it is inside one of the cupboards. I think it's a bunny, and I have a pretty good idea who drew it, too. But I'm not unhappy; in fact, it made me smile and even get a bit teary.

As did my three tubs of patterns.

Talk about being able to trace a part of your life through time! I taught myself to sew in high school and I sewed many dresses and tops to wear to school.

Then, after meeting Craig and getting married, I began sewing home decor items, maternity clothes, a baby layette, blessing dresses, baby clothes, girls' and boys' clothes, pajamas, doll clothes, baptism dresses, robes, aprons, Halloween costumes, outfits (both casual and dress) for me, temple dresses, dresses for Youth Conference, Prom and Homecoming dresses, bridesmaids' gowns, and mother-of-the-bride/groom outfits.

And then the cycle began again as the grandchildren started arriving. Patterns were re-used and new ones were bought.

Thoughts of donating them to Goodwill changed - how could I part with some of these treasures? I could remember the very fabrics used to make them, and had many memories of staying up late after the children were in bed, sewing long into the night as a deadline for a dance was looming or with Christmas just around the corner. Of hiding scraps so that the girls would not see their new doll clothes on Christmas morning and make a connection to the fabric they had seen in the trash can a few days previously.

Patterns for my maternity clothes especially evoked memories. We were dirt poor and students at Purdue. My Grandma Martin gave me tons of fabric (she had worked in a fabric shop in Terre Haute and had stocked up on bolt ends and other sale fabrics for years) and I wore tops and dresses made from that material. Not only a connection to my children, but to my grandmother as well.

In the end, I sorted out 15 patterns to donate, and then tucked the others away (okay, I STUFFED them) into new tubs in my office closet.

Will I ever make them again? Probably not. Maybe some doll clothes, or a robe or pajamas.

But knowing that that little piece of history, which reflects so much about our family's story, is still with me, makes me feel happy.

A Little Perspective with a Dash of Humor

I drove my friend, Laurel, to Church today. She has become a dear friend over the past two years I have been her visiting teacher, and I love it when it is my turn to bring her to Sacrament meeting and then take her home afterward.

Laurel has a delightful sense of humor and it was in full force today! As we were driving, we were talking about summer smells, and how humidity seems to bring a delicious, warm "green" scent to the air.

"And, it makes for a bad hair day, too," I commented.

Laurel looked at me with that twinkle in her eye. "I wouldn't know. I don't have that problem." And we both burst into laughter. (Laurel has worn wigs for years as the various treatments she has undergone over the years have left her without any hair.)

Sometimes her quick wit, though, is touched with tenderness. As I settled her in the room where she sits and has the meeting piped in, I asked if I could get her a softer seat - I know from experience how hard those metal folding chairs are. Laurel declined, reminding me that the discomfort keeps her awake (she naps throughout the day and sleeps as much as twenty hours daily.)

"I will just lie down on the floor if I need to," she said.

And she does. Every meeting. But that bothers me more than the hard chair, so I said, "Is there anything I can do to make you more comfortable? I feel badly that you lie down on the floor."

Laurel smiled and looked me in the eye. "Remember, I have lived in Brunei. Everyone sleeps on the floor. Dirt floors and no blankets! I am used to this, but thank you for thinking of me." (She did accept the pillow I had brought her.)

I was in for one more "Laurelism," though. As I helped her out to the car when Sacrament meeting was over, she was unsteady on her feet. I offered my hand, but she was wearing a splint and could not grab my hand very well.

"I guess it would be easier if I helped you on the other side," I said.

"It would be easier," she smiled, "if I had a perfected body." And she leaned in and continued, again with a smile, "I am looking forward to having one."

Such a wonderful perspective.

Found!!

Lisa has been looking for her baby book for YEARS. She looked through all her things for the umpteenth time in April when she packed to move to Indiana, I have gone through the family history closet several times (as has she) and she has even put notices out on a few lost and found sites online.

To no avail. It had not been seen for at least six years.

Until today.

I was cleaning the garage this afternoon and Lisa was helping me. We'd looked through every tub stored out there, hoping on the off chance that somehow her baby book had been stored in one of them.

No such luck. It wasn't in any of them.

Then I decided to open some boxes in which I had stored items for a garage sale three or four years ago. I knew my baby bassinet was in one, and figured it was time to finally get rid of those things. Lisa and I opened each box, keeping our eyes open for her book as we sorted.

The very last box was not labeled and was high up on the top shelf. I almost left it there since it was very heavy. And what were the chances that her book would be in that very last box? But, I'd gone through everything else out in that garage and really wanted to finish the job. At this point, neither Lisa nor I had any more hopes of finding her book.

Craig had to get the box down for us, and we carefully opened it. Lisa peeked inside and gasped. Then she cried, "MY BABY BOOK!" and nearly burst into tears.

There it was, tucked among some other books and photos that also belonged to her.

She kept exclaiming over and over about her book, and was hugging it to herself. We could not believe our good fortune - having looked for it for years and then nearly missing finding it because the box was so heavy and high up.

Lisa brought it into the house and looked through it, exclaiming over pictures, cards, and other things tucked inside. I haven't seen Lisa this excited in years.

 Lisa's long lost baby book.

 Precious pictures that span the first eight years of her life.

 Some birthday and holiday photos.

And old family pictures.

How did it get into that box and high up on a garage shelf in Indiana? The nearest we can figure is that in 2007, Lisa was working as a counselor for EFY and that as she criss-crossed the country, she stopped here, dropping off a few things to be stored. As time passed, she had forgotten that she'd packed her baby book in with those other items.

While I am thrilled it is found, the best part is seeing her excitement and relief at finding something she so obviously treasures.